Fulham are not out of the woods yet despite their party at the Palace

Could Martin Jol have finally found his preferred line-up and formation? (Image: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

There are many ‘corner-turning’ matches in football; those games that, if won, will supposedly lurch your club from crisis to calm in 90 minutes.

Ours, this year, was billed as Everton. Fulham were victorious, 2-1, and suddenly all were content around Craven Cottage.

Of course, it did not last. That Capital One Cup tie was followed by a dismal defeat at home to Cardiff City and yet again Fulham plunged into yet another disaster.

For that reason, the 4-1 trouncing of Crystal Palace, away from home, doesn’t mean we have turned a corner.

It’s mere progression which, for a side like ours – so attack heavy and crammed with creativity and flair – is inevitable.

What it does signify, though, is Martin Jol drawing ever closer to his preferred starting 11 and, for that matter, preferred formation because, when it boils down to it, the lack of a solid system has been our undoing throughout this campaign.

For one, Maarten Stekelenburg is, without doubt, first choice.

It’s a meaningless statistic in reality, but we have won both competitive fixtures in which he has started and though David Stockdale was admirable cover in the Ducthman’s absence, the defence is palpably more confident with Stekelenburg behind them.